(San Bernardino, CA, April 3, 2017) – Today, proponents of a local initiative that would prohibit illegal aliens from attending public schools in the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District (YCJUSD) took the first step by filing paperwork with the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters. The “American Children First Initiative” would also require illegal alien parents of American citizen children to pay a “non-resident” tuition rate as a condition of enrollment.

Though the Supreme Court ruled in Plyler v Doe (1982) that American taxpayers were obligated to pay for the education of illegal aliens, the author of the initiative believes it’s time to revisit that decision.

“California spends billions educating the children of illegal aliens while per pupil spending and performance lags the rest of the nation,” said Joseph Turner, Founder and Executive Director of American Children First. “Fake Americans in Sacramento would rather help foreigners and real Americans are tired of watching their children get treated like second-class citizens.”

The Federation for American Immigration Reform found that California spent nearly $14.5 billion educating the children of illegal aliens and more than $25 billion on all services combined in 2014. The California Department of Education reports that nearly 25 percent of all students (1.4 million) in K-12 are classified as “English Learners.”

In 1982 the court ruled that in order for Texas to bar illegal aliens from their schools, it must further “some substantial state interest.” It also expressed skepticism that barring illegal aliens would produce any significant improvement in education since state funding was allocated on a per pupil basis.

“I think protecting American children from being raped by illegal alien students in our schools is a pretty damn compelling state interest,” said Turner, alluding to the recent rape of a 14-year-old student by an illegal alien classmate at Rockville High School in Maryland last month.

Proposition 98 requires a minimum percentage of the state budget be allocated to K-12 education spending. Thus, barring children of illegal aliens from attending public schools for free would result in significant increases in per pupil spending for the remaining children of American citizens.

Recently, Governor Jerry Brown and the Democrats in the legislature announced plans to raise gas and car taxes on working-class Californian families to pay for neglected infrastructure repairs. They also support SB 54 which would make California a sanctuary state. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has stated that sanctuary cities and states will lose federal funding, which will cost our state hundreds of millions of dollars.

It has been 35 years since the Plyler decision and the conditions and circumstances facing Californian parents today is vastly different from the ones weighed by the Supreme Court.

The YCJUSD is a split-county district straddling the Riverside and San Bernardino County line with approximately 32,300 registered voters and 9,889 students, including nearly 1,000 English learners. California law requires proponents to gather signatures from ten percent of the voters registered to vote in the YCJUSD to qualify the initiative, or approximately 3,230 valid signatures.

Now that the notice of intent to circulate a petition and the filing fees have been paid, County Counsel must prepare a ballot title and summary within 15 days. Proponents must then publish this information in the newspaper and show proof to the registrar before they can begin gathering signatures. They will have 180 days to qualify the measure.

Joseph Turner is the Executive Director of American Children First and author of the “American Children First” initiative. He previously founded the anti-illegal immigration group Save Our State and also authored the City of San Bernardino Illegal Immigration Relief Act (IIRA) in 2005. The IIRA served as the model for dozens of local jurisdictions, most notably Escondido (CA), Farmers Branch (TX), and Hazleton (PA). Farmers Branch and Hazleton had their ordinances struck down by their respective Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal for each case. Turner can be reached at: [email protected].